Washington — Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia said Sunday that a reported U.S. follow-on strike on an alleged drug boat earlier this year “rises to the level of a war crime if it’s true.”
“If that reporting is true, it’s a clear violation of the DoD’s own laws of war, as well as international laws about the way you treat people who are in that circumstance,” Kaine said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”
The Washington Post reported Friday that in the U.S.’ first strike on a suspected drug smuggling boat in the Caribbean in September, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave a verbal order to leave no survivors. A follow-on strike was ordered to comply with the instructions, killing two survivors in the water, the Post reported. Hegseth called the reporting “fabricated, inflammatory and derogatory,” claiming the operations in the Caribbean are “lawful under both U.S. and international law.”
CBS News has not independently confirmed the Washington Post’s reporting.
Targeting civilians or members of the armed forces who are wounded is prohibited under the Geneva Conventions, which also require the wounded to be “collected and cared for.” A group of former military lawyers outlined in an assessment Saturday that the reported second strike would be a violation of international or domestic law. And the leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services committees pledged to investigate the reported follow-on strike.
Asked about the reported follow-on strike while aboard Air Force One on Sunday, President Trump said, “First of all, I don’t know that that happened, and Pete [Hegseth] said he didn’t even know what people were talking about.”
“So, we’ll look into it. But no, I wouldn’t have wanted that, a second strike,” Mr. Trump said. “The first strike was very lethal. It was fine. If there were two people around — but Pete [Hegseth] said that didn’t happen. I have great confidence in him … I’m going to find out about it, but Pete said he didn’t order the death of those two men.”
Since the first strike on Sept. 2, the U.S. has carried out close to two dozen boat strikes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean. Kaine outlined to CBS News’ chief White House correspondent Nancy Cordes that lawmakers have been seeking answers to a number of questions about the strikes, including seeking evidence that “the folks on board were really narco traffickers,” the question of why to strike rather than interdict, and the legal rationale for the strikes.
“We had to pry with a crowbar after weeks and weeks out of the administration, the supposed legal rationale for the strikes at international waters,” Kaine said. “It was very shoddy.”
The Virginia Democrat said, “It’s time for Congress to rein in a president who is deciding to wage war on his own say-so, which is not what the Constitution allowed.”
Kaine has twice tried to pass war powers resolutions aimed at preventing the president from conducting strikes against Venezuela, earning support from two Republicans.
“That was before all of these assets have amassed around Venezuela, and before President Trump said that the airspace needs to be closed,” Kaine said.
Mr. Trump posted on Truth Social Saturday that Venezuela’s airspace should be considered “CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY.” The post comes as the administration has increased pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, with signs that military action, including possible ground action, could be imminent.
Kaine said if there’s ground action, the numbers in the Senate would change. And he noted that he would move “immediately” on a war powers resolution “should there be military action.”
“The circumstances have changed in the months since we had that vote,” Kaine said. “We think the escalating pace and some of the recent revelations — so, for example, the recent revelation about the kill everyone order apparently dictated by Secretary Hegseth — we do believe that we will get more support for these motions when they are refiled.”
Rep. Mike Turner, an Ohio Republican who sits on the Armed Services Committee and previously led the House Intelligence Committee, also appeared on “Face the Nation” Sunday. He said “Congress does not have information” that the reported follow-on strike occurred.
“If that occurred, that would be very serious, and I agree that that would be an illegal act,” Turner added.
